Completely in the Dark

Now let us speak of the pompatus of love.

When you’re on the verge of eighteen and your inner Joker is on the loose, everything seems possible.

You’re a senior in high school, you have some friends, maybe a little money, and—if you’re a guy—you’re looking for a girl. That one special girl with whom you will magically make a connection that you both will never—ever—forget.

Hey, never said we’d be talking about the truth now, did I? I mean, what do you take me for?

Some kind of Space Cowboy?

Since our school newspaper field trip to the University of Minnesota, Darla and I were spending nearly every day together. We stayed after school for a drama club meeting; we worked together in the Smoke Signal office, typing up stories for the next issue; and, on the rare occasions Mom let me borrow her car, I drove Darla home…